Portfolio of publishing projects
Writing
A feature article on the first museum of Indian business history
Thanks to museum officials and other sources, the article came out informative and entertaining. The bigger challenge was to offer a fair assessment to the reader without sounding too critical of a fledgling, pioneering initiative.
2014 / Business Standard
Rather than immediately inflicting a business history course on the MBA students, a museum was conceived to help youngsters learn business history, and develop pride in the country’s past. … The handful of 3D models and murals are supplemented by 13 LCD screens that display short videos, and eight wall-mounted touchscreens that invite you to flip through photographs and documents. … The Colonial exhibits, for example, follow a political path (Portuguese, Dutch, British, French), rather than an economic one (mercantilism, free trade, finance capitalism), thus shying away from challenging the visitor to re-order his or her worldview.
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An opinion article on a publishing controversy
After facing a legal challenge for a while, publisher Penguin withdrew a book (rather than continue the fight in the courts). The intelligentsia was up in arms against the publisher. I was self-employed at that time and hence free to air my opinion. From a publisher’s angle, I offered a different perspective, arguing that Penguin ‘saved the book’.
2014 / The Hindu Business Line
[I]s there really any justification for theatrics? The High Priestess of Hyperbole asked: ‘Must we now write only pro-Hindutva books?’, as if Section 295A allows books insulting Christianity and Islam, and Penguin bowed to Hindutva. Elsewhere, a nine-page legal notice was drafted asking Penguin to convert the book to open general license; instead, a one-minute glance at the book would have revealed that the copyright is owned by Wendy Doniger, not Penguin. Clearly, such rhetoric is silly. Yesterday, it was important to stand up and shout; today, it is important to sit down and think. … The fight against religious fundamentalism cannot be won by incompetence or ignorance.
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More samples of my writing—
opinion/commentary, features, and middles
Multimedia Content
A website that offered cutting-edge online journalism
On the eve of legislative elections, I launched a webzine to offer cutting-edge online journalism in Kerala. Text stories were served with complementary photos, graphics, videos, alternative story forms (interactive quiz, timeline, sliders), and follow-up updates. Despite poor Internet connectivity, I live-blogged too! Boatman was a one-man experiment and short-lived, but I hope to refloat the boat at the first chance.
2016 / Boatman
The national highway between Palakkad and Vadakkenchery is punctuated with corporate-style flex boards of the three political fronts … The UDF’s flex ads are aspirational. Whether it is about the airport in Kannur or the tech hub Smart City, the ideas chosen are Janus-faced, inviting the voter to look back at the UDF’s achievements and simultaneously look forward to their economic potential…. While UDF ads appear to be from Mumbai, the LDF ones feature quintessential Malayalis. The ad, however, cleverly leaves the leadership question unanswered — VS Achuthanandan stands in front of Pinarayi Vijayan, yet equally, Vijayan is at the centre. EMS Namboodiripad and AK Gopalan, regular fixtures in Kerala communist iconography, are out of the picture.
Visit Boatman.in
Design
Brochures, Posters, Whatsapp images, Websites
I enjoy designing all kinds of documents—books, working paper series, covers, brochures, posters, newsletters, websites, Whatsapp images, …. Featured here is a Research Brief I packaged in brochure style, for taking MIDS faculty’s research findings to policymakers and the public.
Editing
A book I helped to create
In the mid-2000s, the NCERT revamped high-school textbooks. I worked closely with the authors to bring out a book for teachers, parents, and students, which explained the politics, pedagogy, and philosophy undergirding the new textbooks. As commissioning editor, among other things, I co-conceptualised the book and edited the typescript before it entered the production cycle.
2009 / Teaching Social Science in Schools
Ashok R. Chandran of SAGE shaped this book in many ways. In a sense it had begun several years ago, while the authors were struggling with writing, translating and criticizing social science school textbooks, but Ashok yanked it to the forefront of our lives, pressing home to us the need for it. He sculpted it at every level, from insisting that we use a pleasant question and answer format to cutting out verbose pontifications to helping us visualize the typical reader. In the process, we gained a tremendous respect for Ashok’s commitment and abilities.
From the ‘Acknowledgements’
Blogging
A blog about schooling and my school
For about three years, I ran a blog about Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram and a monthly e-newsletter (300+ subscribers). Readers included alumni, parents of students, teachers, students, and the general public. Some blogposts were listed nationally (e.g., in Desipundit) and a couple were re-published in the national mainstream media.
2007–2009 / The ARChive
A blog succeeds when it becomes a space where readers exchange comments and, with their insights and perspectives, elevate the discussion. Although I had set out with humbler goals—to inform, entertain, and stimulate thinking—the blog became a community space of quality.
Visit The ARChive blog